What’s a Plant-Based Diet? Recent documentaries have been promoting the benefits of a plant based diet; a diet rich with legumes and vegetables. Many people find making these changes helps their energy, stregnth and weight. The basis of this guide is health, and many people switch to eating plants because they want to lose weight, […]

What’s a Plant-Based Diet?

Recent documentaries have been promoting the benefits of a plant based diet; a diet rich with legumes and vegetables. Many people find making these changes helps their energy, stregnth and weight.

The basis of this guide is health, and many people switch to eating plants because they want to lose weight, improve their heart health, stay healthy as they age, improve blood pressure or deal with diabetes. A plant-based diet has been shown to help with all of these things — if you also stay away from the processed foods. A diet of processed flour and sugar and fried foods isn’t healthy even if it’s all plants (more on this below). The healthiest populations in the world are plant based: the Okinawans (traditionally at almost all plants such as sweet potatoes, soybeans, lots of veggies, with a little fish and occasional pork), the Sardinians (beans & veggies, red wine, some cheese, meat only once a week), and the vegan Seventh-Day Adventists in Loma Linda, California who are the longest-living Americans. The Mediterranean Diet is a good example of a plant based diet.
There is an abundance of plant foods that most people never eat, and eating a plant-based diet means you might widen the variety of foods you eat. For example, some of foods include: tempeh, seitan, tofu, kale, broccoli, quinoa, ground flaxseeds, ground chia seeds, raw almonds and walnuts, raw almond butter, olive oil, all kinds of berries, figs, avocados, tomatoes, lentils, black beans, spirulina, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, organic soymilk, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, apples, peaches, mangoes, pineapple, garlic, red wine, green tea, brown rice, sprouted (flourless) bread, brown rice, steel-cut oats.

Exploring recipes and various diets is part of the journey for many people seeking health and weight loss. Dr Shillingford, a Florida Bariatric Surgeon who services the areas of Tampa, Miami, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale is skilled and knowledgeable of various plant based diets and approaches to weight loss. He is skilled in the procedures of Gastric Sleeve, Gastric Bypass and Lap Band procedures and offers free consultations to new patients. Call 561-483-0844 for a free consultation.